How John Locke Shaped the American Revolution

Harvey Mansfield argues that political philosophy has direct and measurable use in the real world, pointing to John Locke as the intellectual force behind both the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in England and the American Revolution of 1776, the two most successful liberal revolutions in modern history.

Locke's principles of toleration, government by consent, the right of resistance, and the separation of economics from politics shaped the institutions of both revolutions, from the Bank of England to the separation of powers embedded in the American Constitution.

The Declaration of Independence is the clearest example of philosophy applied to action, translating Locke's abstract theory of natural rights into a public act of war that appealed to a candid world and ultimately to divine providence for its justification.

Studying political philosophy, Mansfield concludes, is like climbing a mountain to see the whole, but applying that view requires descending carefully, as Lincoln did when he used the Declaration to argue against slavery and as the Founders did when they translated Lockean theory into durable institutions.

Harvey Mansfield credits John Locke with two successful revolutions, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the American founding of 1776, exporting toleration, consent and the Bank of England along the way, Law & Liberty concurs. University of Chicago historians counter that Jefferson drafted from George Mason's Virginia declaration rather than revising Locke outright, and that patriots across the British Empire shared the same ideas, so victory rather than philosophy explains why this revolution held University of Chicago News. Whether the Declaration is applied philosophy or common inheritance, and how much of 1776 truly belongs to Locke, is precisely the quarrel its 250th birthday this July 4 could not settle.